Celebrating Black Maternal Health Week #BMHW25

Mom and three kids Greetings from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania! Things have been busy. I am still a working mom of three, working full time who is trying to make a difference. I do a lot of things and try to be present so that I can learn from them. I share them on this blog so that we can learn together. Below are some thoughts, hacks, and/or lessons that I have learned from navigating my world. Black Maternal Health Week April 11-17, 2025 I am a Black mom to three wonderful children. I was blessed to have three successful births. While I am an attorney, my third delivery highlighted the potential risks that occur when a physician fails to listen to the birthing person. Initially, I chalked it up to the physician involved and limited it to my personal birthing experience. Then, I learned that I was not special. Overwhelmingly, Black women experience higher rates of birth trauma, birthing complications and negative birth outcomes.  These statistics are what lead to the creation of ...

Tis the Season for Christmas Cards!


Before I had a baby I generally sent Christmas cards. I think that people liked them, but I don’t believe that there was any expectation by the recipients.


My cards were pretty. Sometimes I got them from the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I selected them for their appeal and there messages.  They were nice cards.  A few even landed on my grandmother’s refrigerator affixed with a magnet. Still, if I skipped a year nobody seemed to care.

Apparently after you have a child things change.  The day after Thanksgiving my eighty-five year old uncle told my mother that he was looking for my Christmas card.

Now there’s pressure.

Last year I sent a photo card of the baby. So, I figured that’s what my uncle was looking for. In order to send a photo card I needed an appropriate photo. However, I had no budget. We hired a professional photographer for the baby’s first birthday party and had lots of photos from there. But with the damned Facebook those photos have been seen far and wide. I also have posted them on this blog. So, I can’t use them on the Christmas card.

So what’s a mommy to do?  Convince the baby that playing photo session is the next best thing to breast milk!

Despite my persuasive skills, as you can see from the photos, she was not convinced.   Like her mama, she has a mind of her own. And she found the props much too interesting to stay still. I couldn’t even bribe her to pose. And every time I had the perfect shot, the friggin’ camera would
stall. 

Oh well, there’s still some daylight left. When she wakes up from her nap the "photo games" shall resume. I may just get the perfect shot and make my uncle’s Christmas dreams come true.  Here’s hoping!






Comments

momto8 said…
I love the outfit! the pictures really are fun!
The outfit really is the best! Good luck with the photo shoot part 2!
ff said…
Way cute! Christmas cards are fun to get, but a pain to send out. Good luck with this year's edition!